Von der Leyen statement about death of 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers cut from speech
Ursula von der Leyen (Photo:REUTERS/Yves Herman)
Claims by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the losses of Ukraine in its war with Russia amounted to 100,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians were cut from a speech she gave on Nov. 30.
Part of her speech was posted on Twitter on the morning of Nov. 30, in which she stated, in particular, that Ukraine’s losses in the war with Russia amounted to 100,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought death, destruction and untold suffering. We all remember the horrors of Bucha. It is estimated that more than 20,000 civilians and 100,000 Ukrainian military personnel have died to date. Russia must pay for its heinous crimes, including the crime of aggression against a sovereign state,” the tweet read.
The speech was also published on the website of the European Commission.
However, within a few hours, the tweet was deleted and a new one was published – with a video address, from which the claim about the deaths of 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 20,000 civilians had been removed.
That part of the text also disappeared from the speech on the EC’s official website.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Nov. 11 stated that Russia’s losses in the war were ten times greater than Ukraine’s.
The head of state added that the artillery transferred to Ukraine by the US helped break the Russian military initiative. He also said the aggressor state’s losses in heavy equipment and manpower were “staggering.”
According to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, as of Nov. 30, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost about 88,880 troops.
President Zelenskyy predicts that by the end of the year, the number of Russians killed in Ukraine will reach 100,000.
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